There’s been plenty to report on at this year’s Amory Fair so far—rising stars, a monumental outdoor installation, and a slew of artworks that will stop you in your tracks. But with over 200 international galleries and a robust list of public programs, there’s still more to cover. Should you find yourself joining the crowds at Piers 92 and 94 this weekend, here are some standout booths from artnet Member galleries to keep an eye out for.
Perrotin
Powerhouse gallery Perrotin presents the work of two seemingly disparate artists: Leslie Hewitt and Pieter Vermeersch. Hewitt shows a handful of never-before-seen black and white photographs from her ongoing series, Riffs on Real Time, in which she explores various visual representations of memory and time. Belgian artist Vermeersch, on the other hand, includes a series of large gradated paintings on canvas, marble, and—in one site-specific case—on the booth wall. At first glance, the two artists seem to be strange bedfellows, but spend some time in Perrotin’s booth and you’ll see that they actually complement each other thematically. The slowly moving colors of Vermeersch’s paintings play with our perceptual limitations and echo Hewitt’s contemplations on our shifting taxonomies of time. However, Perrotin’s splashiest presentation at this year’s fair is outside the Armory building, where street artist JR has installed massive images of immigrants for his Platform project SO CLOSE.
Helwaser Gallery
For their fourth straight year at the Armory, Helwaser Gallery has chosen to hone in on Pop Art as its theme. There will be a particular focus on the nude paintings of the late, great artist Tom Wesselmann, alongside later works from other ’60s-era icons like Yayoi Kusama and Roy Lichtenstein. On the whole, Helwaser’s selection varies widely in medium, year, and style—from crumpled steel sculptures by John Chamberlain to word paintings by Ed Ruscha. Yet one thing unites all the works: vibrant color. With a handful of canvases and sculptures donning the bright, bold hues you would expect from pop art pioneers, Helwaser’s booth will be hard to miss.
De Sarthe Gallery
For its booth in the Insights section of the fair, De Sarthe presents a variety of works from contemporary Chinese artists and 20th-century masters, including Chen Zhen, Zao Wou-Ki, and French conceptualist Bernar Venet. However, the real highlight of De Sarthe’s turn this year is Wang Xin’s experimental multi-media social art project, The Gallery. Started in 2014 by the Shanghai-based artist, The Gallery is an ongoing work that proposes an alternative model for showing contemporary art. At its installation location, anyone is invited to exhibit their own work or create new DIY projects, regardless of background, medium, or art world clout. Installed in the Armory’s Platform section, The Gallery presents a new exhibition every hour during the duration of the fair.
Setareh Gallery
Also participating in the Armory’s Insights section is Düsseldorf-based gallery Setareh, who presents a number of notable works by artists such as Christopher Wool, George Baselitz, and Sigmar Polke. Standouts include a series of geometric paintings a couple of blue and black abstract paintings by German master Hans Hartung, two encased mirror and wood works by Christian Megert, and a series of hand-blown glass sculptures by Arik Levy.
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
For this year’s fair, the European dealer Thaddaeus Ropac has brought a number of strong works across the Atlantic with him, including newer paintings by Alex Katz and Georg Baselitz, a dark charcoal American flag drawing by Robert Longo, and a stylish bronze figure study by British sculptor Tony Cragg. But perhaps the most notable is a newly reconfigured work by Cory Arcangel titled Mig 29 Soviet Fighter Plane, Clouds and OSX (2016 and 2018). The piece consists of two vertically arranged monitors showing computer home screens and imagery from old war-themed Nintendo video game, which Arcangel has hacked into so that a graphic of a Soviet fighter plane is featured prominently.